Never Give Up
by Cherry the Skylyn
Summary: Hope is a beautiful, all-star racing chao. But what will happen when she falls in love with the one chao that can beat her?
1. Chapter 1: New challenges ahead

**Never Give Up**

_**Chapter 1: New Challenges Ahead**_

The crowd cheered as Hope crossed the finish jumped up and down happily.

For Hope had just won the Emerald race of the Jewel races. All those months of training had finally paid off.

She went to the winner podiums and climbed up to first place. A hero run chao was second, and a dark power chao was third. All the other chao in the race lined up at the bottom. When the music started to play, Hope jumped up and down while the other chao clapped and smiled up at her, and the ones on the other podiums got to do a dance too.

Hope was a beautiful chao. She was a neutral chao with a parrot's wings and a tuft of parrot feathers on her head. But most beautiful of all was her peacock tail.

Hope was not only known for her beauty, but her exceptional racing skills. There was not a race she hadn't challenged and deafeated. Of course, like most racers, Hope had her down times, but had always made it through and eventually climbed to the top.

. . .

Hope stepped off the trasporter pad and onto the floor of the Mystic Ruins Garden, her home.

"Hope!" Several chao ran up to her, screaming and laughing.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Hope asked as she flew in the air to prevent herself from being trampled.

"What's up," Pebble said, "Is that you have just won the hardest of the Chao Stadiums races!"

"We watched the whole thing the hill," said Shine.

"It's amazing. You're still so young, but so succsesful," Glow said in awe.

"You were awesome!" said Sky energeticlly, "And I won the Pearl Course too! Did you see me? It was right before yours!"

It comes to my attention that you may not know these chao.

So I will give some introductions.

Pebble: a very careful chao. He and Hope were both hatched in the Mystic Ruins garden at the same time, so they are considered siblings. He's a neutral chao koala ears, deer antlers and arms, and rabbit feet.

Shine: an optamistic neutral gold chao with rabbit parts. She has a slight crush on Glow.

Glow: a mysterious neutral silver chao. There are rumors he was given a firefly because of his beetle-like wings and ocasionally glowing tail. He would never admit it to anyone, not even himself, but he has a slight crush on Shine.

Sky: an ethusiastic chao who was just hatched. He wants nothing more than to become a famous racer like Hope and is currently in the hero alignment, although he hasn't evolved yet.

Now that introductions are out of the way, on with the story!

Hope smiled at the young chao's enthusiasum. "Yes, I did watch you Sky, and you were amazing," This was true. She had decided to watch Sky compete in the Pearl Course since it was right before her own race. The little chao had pushed the ball like it was nothing and sprinted towards the finish line. Yes, he can already run.

"And for your inforation," Hope said facing Glow, "You and everone else in this garden are no older than me."

"Point taken," Glow said.

"So are you done with racing now, sis?" Pebble asked.

"Not by a long shot," Hope said, stepping to the edge of the pond. She jumped up and did a perfect swan dive into the pond. She lifted her head out of water and backstroked to the shore. Hope then jumped out of water gracefully and landed lightly on her feet. The other chao clapped.

"There are still new challenges ahead," Hope said, "And I plan to defeat them before I move on."

By now the sun had set everyone went to sleep. Hope went to her favorite sleeping place at the top of the slope and closed her eyes.


	2. Chapter 2: Who is that?

**Hey, guys! Sorry it took so long to upload this chap. I spent most of this time either **

**rehearsing for a play or in my social life. And then Eggman tried to kidnap me.**

**Eggman: Open up!**

**Damn it! Sorry, guys! I'll get back to you when you finish this chapter.**

**Never Give Up**

_**Chapter 2: Who is that?**_

Hope wandered through the Station Square Garden. Lots of people's chao lived in this garden, mainly because it was the closest to the Chao Stadium. Hope's friends here have tried to convince her and her guardian that she should move their for that reason. Hope, however, knew that the Mystic Ruins Garden was her home. She was born there, she could not leave her friends, and her guardian agreed.

"Besides," Hope said the last time her friends Lucy, Snap, Super, and Keira had tried to convince her to move in with them, " I promised Sky I'd help him with some training."

More chao introductions! Neutral and plain unless otherwise said!

Lucy: a naughty chao with a sharp toothy grin and rabbit parts different than Shine's.

Snap: Lucy's partner in crime who also has a toothy grin. His koala ears are smaller than Pebble's.

Super: a high-dreaming gold speed chao who wants to become a Sonic chao.

Keira: a happy-go-lucky silver chao. She has a crush on Super and is Shine's BFF.

No more intros! On with the story!

Any-hoo, Hope was thinking about her guardian's offer for her to visit a place called Chao Island. Appearantly its Chao Stadium had a bunch of races that the Chao Stadium for the chao that live in the secret gardens she's familiar with didn't have.

"And guess what else," Hope's guardian had told her, " You'll get to see Star and Blossom again!"

Hope had brightened at this news. Star and Blossom were her guardian's two other chao. Hope had met them when her guardian had brought them over for a visit to the Mystic Ruins Garden, and she quickly became friends with them. Star was a slightly older hero swim chao. But Blossom looked like a mini version of their guardian. She was a deep pink hue, with three little feathers hanging down her back, little bangs on her face, feathery wings and she even wore a little green dress. She was about Hope's age. They were both amazed at how the secret gardens of Station Square, the Mystic Ruins, and the Egg Carrier were all connected. They had marveled at the transporter pads.

_**Flashback:**_

_"What's _you're _garden like?" Hope asked._

_"Sit, and we'll tell you," Blossom said._

_"You are aware of chao alignments, right?" asked Star._

_"Of course," said Hope. " There are the neutral chao, hero chao, and dark chao. Chao are born neutral, but they can go into the hero or dark alignments by eating either lots of Hero Fruit or Dark Fruit, right?_

_"That's all true on Chao Island, too, but there's something extra." _

_"What?" Hope asked Star eagerly._

_"If a chao in our home is raised with care by someone with lots of light in their heart," Star said to the excited young chao, "Then that chao will go to the hero alignment."_

_"That explains why you're a hero chao, Star." said Hope thinking of her guardian._

_"However," said Blossom, "If a chao is cared for by someone with a noticeable amount of darkness in their heart, that chao will go to the dark alignment."_

_"Chao Island also has three gardens," said Star, " One for each type of chao. Me and Blossom live in the garden for neutral chao, just called the Chao Garden."_

_"Maybe I could visit sometime," suggested Hope._

_"Yeah!" shouted Blossom, jumping up from her seat, "You'll love Chao Karate! I'll bet you can't beat Star's boyfriend Jojo!"_

_"Blossom!" Star hid her face in embarrassment. Hope and Blossom burst into laughter._

_**End of Flashback**_

Hope, of course, had said yes to this offer. She smiled remembering how Blossom didn't only share looks with their guardian. It had been an entire chao year (which is actually six months) since she'd seen the two.

Suddenly, a certain chao caught Hope's eye. He looked like a dark run chao, from the looks of his blue and white eyes and bended 'quills' on his back and on the back of his head. However, instead of being black with bright green highlights and streaks, he was dark gray with lime green highlights at the tips of his 'quills', arms, and feet and some blue on his belly.

A weird sensation came over Hope. She started to sweat.

Keira came over to Hope. "Is something wrong, Hope?" she asked.

Hope could only find one thing to say. "Who is that?"

**Yay, the next chapter is finally up! I'll take less time to upload the next chapter, I promise. And remember, your comments are my pay, so make sure to comment!**

**Doorbell: Ding-dong.**

**Now I wonder who that could be? *Opens the door.* Hello?**

**Random dude at the door: Cherry the Skylyn, I am with the Vegan Police Force and you are under arrest for taking so long to upload. Anything you say will be held against you in the court of law.**

**Oh my.**


	3. Chapter 3: Is this love?

**Hello, peeps! Good news. The court said if I get good reviews they'll let me off the hook. Without further ado, here's chapter 3!**

**Never Give Up**

_**Chapter 3: Is This Love?**_

"Who?" asked Keira.

Hope pointed to the strange looking chao.

"That's Chacron," said Keira.

"_Homa?_" asked Hope turning sharply to face Keira.

Hope didn't know exactly what homa meant, but when she watched a show called Sam and Cat with her guardian it was usually said in a situation when there was simply nothing else to say.

And Hope was practically speechless. She took the liberty of studying all the great racing chao before she started racing herself, which was when she was just three months old. Chacron had been in the book, and he was only _one month _older than her! And he started becoming famous when he was just _two months old! _The book said he could wait until the rest of the competition was halfway through the race to go and _still _win. Up to this day only a few chao have ever defeated him. The picture had shown a young still-neutral dark gray chao with lime green highlights at the tips of his arms, feet, and head, and a blueish belly.

"Hope, are you okay?" Keira asked, sounding concerned for her friend, "You look a little off."

Hope felt a little off, too. A thought crossed her mind that she couldn't dismiss right away.

_Is this...? _she began to think, but she stoped herself. _No, it's impossible _she told herself firmly. Hope looked back at Keira. She _had_ to check, just to be sure.

"Keira?"

"Yes?"

"What's it like to fall in love?"

Keira looked at Hope suspiciously. "Why do you want to know?" she asked.

"Just wondering," Hope lied.

"Well..." Keira began, "Say the object of your affection walks by. First, your heart falls into your stomach and splashes your innards. All the moisture makes you sweat profusely. The condensation shorts the circuits to the brain, and you get all woozy. Then your brain burns out altogether, your mouth disengages, and you babble like a cretin until he or she leaves." Keira acted everything out as she said it, making her friend even more disgusted.

"That's _love_!?" Hope shouted.

"Medically speaking," Keira said simply.

Hope thought. She would _never_ let herself babble like a cretin. However, she _had _felt a dropping sensation in her chest when she saw Chacron. She had also started to sweat. All of this thinking brought back that question.

_Is this...love?_

She knew the word love should come around at this time of every chao's life span. It was only one more month before Hope had her mating season. She had never gave a thought to love. But now that she had experienced it...

A thought came to Hope that brought a smile to her face. And with that, she was off, leaving Keira to realize that her stomach was empty.

You see, when the anthros and humans rebuilt the Station Square garden because of the Chaos incident, they also put a little bulletin board on the wall beside the entrance to the Chao Stadium. This way it was easier for chao to sign up for any upcoming races. And if Chacron was here...Hope smiled brightly when she saw Chacron's name on the roster. There was one spot left, so Hope signed her name. She read that the race was going to be held in the Emerald Course of the Jewel Races, the same one that had gotten her praise from her friends. Nothing she couldn't handle.

Hope walked away. _I'm about to see if you should believe everything you read, _she told herself. _It's time to get training._

**Yes, there is a show called Sam and Cat, and Hope's perspective of the word homa is also mine. Did I spell it right? Someone tell me what you know, please! Keira's description of what it's like to fall in love is also Hobbes' when he tells Calvin what it's like to fall in love. You people didn't seriously think **_**I**_** could come up with something that hilarious!? And remember...**

**Your comments are my pay (and also my ticket to avoid jail), so make sure to comment. Kay, bye! I gotta fly!**


	4. Chapter 4: The race

**Hey, everyone! I'm SO sorry it took so long to upload this chapter! I just started this school year. But don't worry, no more waiting! Here's chapter four! This is where it gets good.**

**Never Give Up**

_**Chapter 4: The Race**_

_This is it _Hope thought as she stepped into the light. She was lined up on the race track in the Chao Stadium with lots of other chao. But one of them in particular caught her eye.

_If this really is love I'm feeling, _she thought while looking at the dark chao lined up next to her, _then winning against him in a race may be the only way to impress him._

Chacron eventually caught Hope's eye. There was a coldness to his blue eyes. But there was something else in his eyes. Some sort of gleam. A little spark. Hope would think about that later. And not only that, but it was how deeply he looked at her. Almost as if he could see right into her soul.

Hope saw the Omochao getting ready signal the start of the race. Hope got into racing position. She had spent all of her free time training for this race. She would _not _lose.

Omochao then signaled the start of the race, and Hope took off like a rocket. She looked behind her. Chacron had gotten into peacock position and wasn't moving an inch. Hope turned her attention back to the race, and felt energy burst out of her in a trail of sparkles. She heard a drum beat and she had a short speed boost that got her ahead of all the other chao in the race. Hope looked up into the bleachers and saw the smiling, bright, deep cherry pink hue of her guardian banging on a drum.

Hope quickly shook a coconut from a tree, gobbled it down, and continued running. As she got on one of the bridges, she decided to take the shortcut. So she hopped into the water below and swam to the point where the other chao would be soon flying down to.

Meanwhile, as Hope continued running, Chacron suddenly stood up and took off with blinding speed.

Hope tumbled down the first part of the stone hills, so she made up for it by quickly running up and down the other stone hills. After that she carefully scaled the rocky wall so she wouldn't fall.

Once she got to the top, she realized she had no idea about the other racers' progress, so she looked. What she saw caught her by surprise. Almost all the rest of the chao were just starting with the stone hills. Almost. Chacron had surpassed the stone hills and was running to the rock wall, with a speed she had never seen with a chao.

Hope quickly got over her surprise and started running again, but Chacron had gotten a speed boost. So by the time she got near the cliff where she would have to jump into the lake below and swim the rest of the race, Chacron had caught up. As he passed Hope she felt his arm brush against hers, and for some reason she couldn't decide on, lingered there for a moment. They caught each other's gaze for a millisecond. There was that spark again. They both jumped off the cliff, and Chacron also flew faster and father than she'd seen any chao fly, and swam faster, too. Hope tried to catch up, but it was pointless. Before she'd even swam halfway through the lake, Chacron had made it to the finish line, and went back into peacock position.

As the rest of the chao crossed the finish line, Hope headed toward the second place podium, a broken heart in her chest...

**POOR HOPE! Speaking of which, I have a little contest. Can you guess who Hope's guardian is? By now you should have a good idea of who it is. Put who you think it is in your comments. Speaking of which, remember...**

**YOUR COMMENTS ARE MY PAY (and also my ticket to avoid jail), so make sure to comment. Kay, bye! I gotta fly!**


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